Clean Cleanse Day One: 20 to go

Clean Cleanse Day One: 20 to go

Sunday, July 21st:

My Clean Program!

Today was a very big day!  David and I moved into our first apartment together and I started the real cleanse!  Right after we woke up we began to break my bed down.  During this one of my wrought iron bed frames fell on my big toe after I picked it up.  Needless to say, I was completely out of commission and can barely walk.  Excruciating pain, but luckily I don't have to be out of my apartment until August 1st.  We still have some time thank goodness!  Below is a picture of my foot under a blueberry ice pack.  I will spare you all of the grisly pictures...they aren't pretty!

 My shake frozen blueberries doubled as an ice pack!

I had a vanilla shake this morning as part of the cleanse, along with my supplements and a probiotic provided from the clean program.  With the shake packet I added raspberries, blueberries, and almond milk.  It wasn't too bad, a bit chalky, but at least filling.

Drew Brees helped me make it through shake one!  Thank you, Breesus!

While David and our friend John were busy helping our movers I sat on the couch.  Completely helpless.  I tried my best not to take advil because of the cleanse, but about five hours after the accident the pain was so intense I had to take some.  I don't think it will affect the cleanse too much and it was a last resort.

For lunch I was in so much pain I just decided to snack.  I ate some of my brown rice tortilla chips and an apple, plus another round of supplements and a probiotic.  For my dinner shake I tried the chocolate shake packet.  I added almond milk, stevia, fresh blueberries and ice, plus my supplement and a probiotic.  It was actually really good!  Today wasn't a great day, but it could have been a lot worse I guess.  Positive is my toe didn't fall off (my nail might), we have 10 days to finish up and no headaches today!  Thank you all so much for the support!


Signing out.

Pre-cleanse Day Three: The Clean Cleanse

Pre-cleanse Day Three: The Clean Cleanse

Saturday, July 20th:

Today is my last day of the pre-cleanse!  It's been a great three days so far.  I've had a couple of headaches, really wanted a pizza and wine, but hanging in there!  Big thanks to all for the support!

Today I skipped breakfast.  I had a really busy morning and just wasn't hungry.  David and I are moving into our first apartment together tomorrow, so as you can imagine things have been hectic.  Around 11:30am I had an apple.  I headed to Malibu for my friend Bianca's wedding shower.  It was so beautiful and full of yummy temptations!  While everyone was drinking mimosa's I drank lots of water.  They also passed around appetizers that looked delicious including ahi tuna, but I opted for lettuce and cucumbers with fresh lemon on top and almonds.  For the main lunch I made a mistake, but it'll be fine because I actually didn't eat that much of it...I had eggplant which is a food to avoid.  I didn't realize it!  I'm not going to let it bring me down, just moving on.  So for lunch I had white beans, asparagus, yellow squash and grilled chicken.  Luckily they had great options available for me.

Once I got home I made guacamole!  It was amazing with the brown rice tortillas!  I had a slight headache late afternoon, but it didn't last long.  Later in the afternoon I made a shake with raspberries, mango, ice, stevia, and almond milk.  It was okay.  Helped hold me over until dinner.  Nothing can come close to the guacamole.  I seriously think I'll eat this daily throughout the cleanse for lunch, haha!

Just missing the marg!

For dinner I had leftover whole foods from last night.  I had grilled chicken, peas, broccoli, brown rice and pineapple.  Tomorrow is the big day, full cleanse day one.  I'm excited to try the shakes.  So wish me luck on cleanse day one and the move!  Thanks for stopping by :)

Signing out.

Pre-cleanse Day Two: The Clean Cleanse

Pre-cleanse Day Two: The Clean Cleanse

Friday, July 19th:

I need to add something important from last night.  About 30-45 minutes before I went to bed I got a headache.  It wasn't terrible, but definitely bothered me since I don't get headaches.  I didn't take anything, but just decided to go to bed.

Today I started my day with leftover almond flour pancakes with fresh blueberries.  I enjoyed them yesterday because not only were they tasty, but also very filling.  I ate them around 9:00am.  I ate one granny smith apple for a snack mid-morning and then ate lunch around 12:45pm. For lunch I also had leftovers, I ate a leftover Asian Turkey Burger.  I had raw almonds and fresh cherries as well.  Sorry to bore you with the repeats, but I will not be cooking everyday!  

I got a headache after lunch, maybe sometime around 3:00pm.  I decided to drink some green tea and it actually helped.  I drank it hot and plain.  No additional headaches the rest of the day/night.  I will probably make a large pot of it tomorrow and keep it in the fridge.  Tastes great with stevia and fresh lemon over ice.

I got really hungry after work and felt like quitting.  I ate a gala apple and felt fine until dinner :)

For dinner I went to Whole Foods and got a pre-made chicken breast, broccoli, peas, and brown rice.  I did not feel like another turkey burger or tuna fish!  The dinner was great and I'm feeling good!  Best part of my cleanse today was discovering Brown Rice Tortillas at Trader Joe's!  I spoke to Debbie at Clean Cleanse this morning and she recommended I try the tortillas. I made the tortilla chips tonight in the oven, sprayed them with olive oil and topped with sea salt...Ahhhhh-mazing!  I can't wait to make the cleanse guacamole to pair with them.  This is going to make this entire process A LOT more bearable, trust me!  Also, Debbie was very helpful today.  I called her this morning and emailed her a few times late afternoon.  She was very patient, knowledgeable and answered all my questions.  Great customer service and support, I was very impressed.

Brown Rice Tortilla chips, my lifeline!  

Day two of the pre-cleanse took a turn for the best.  Guacamole here I come!  I have a wedding shower to attend tomorrow which might be tough....wish me luck!



Signing out.

Pre-cleanse Day One: The Clean Cleanse

Thursday, July 18th:

Let me start this the right way.  This is actually embarrassing for me because I honestly only share this information with close friends.  My starting weight before this cleanse is 138 pounds.  This is heavy for me.  I joined Weight Watchers in September 2012 with a start weight of 137 pounds.  I lost 13 lbs during that diet and since then I have gained it all back plus one!  My ideal and happy weight is 120 as I am 5'3".  I want to be extremely candid during this experience not only because I want to document this journey as my diary, but I truly want to share this with my friends.

The Clean Cleanse is suppose to "reset your body the right way". I don't want to fluff this up or make you all think it's something it's not.  I'm overweight right now and trying to get control before I get out of control.  I am not expecting to lose a ton of weight during this cleanse, but my goal is truly to reset my body and rid it of toxins.  Once that is done I am hoping it will jump start me into a healthier life style.  Maybe even returning to Weight Watchers as that was a successful and pleasant diet for me.

Today I am starting my three day pre-cleanse before I start my actual 21 day Clean Cleanse.  The pre-cleanse consists of eating three meals a day from approved "Clean Cleanse" foods.  By doing this you don't throw your body into a full tail spin, you actually ease it into the full cleanse.  During this full cleanse process I cut out all gluten, dairy, sugar and alcohol.  The cleanse consists of three pre-cleanse days, 21 day cleanse and a seven day re-introduction (which I'm most excited about).  During the re-introduction phase I introduction gluten and dairy back into my diet separately to determine if they are "toxic triggers" for me.  Toxic Triggers are food products that really cause my body to go out of whack.

Last night after I stuffed myself with wine and Mexican food I went grocery shopping!  Phew, that was exhausting.  It was a few hours of research, too much money and prep time afterwards.  I spent hours researching approved foods, recipes, and really trying to learn why I have to eliminate certain foods.  For instance, strawberries and bananas?   I eat a banana everyday!  Other than wine I think this is the most disappointing thing I'm going to give up!  I just love bananas!

This is me with my cleanser binder at checkout. 

So at the grocery store I bought all kinds of new, expensive items.  Who knew almond flour was so expensive!  $10 for a normal size bag?!  Seriously?  Moving on....  I also bought coconut oil, unsweetened almond milk, almond butter, etc. just all these things I've never purchased!  I also bought apples, cherries, celery, blueberries, onions, scallions, tuna fish in water, chicken, ground turkey, the list goes on and on.

After I got home from the store I began to prep.  I decided for my lunch I would prepare tuna fish and serve it over lettuce.  I made tuna fish that included celery, red onion, stone ground mustard, dill, salt and pepper and of course tuna fish.  Also with my lunch I had some raw almonds and fresh cherries.  It turned out really delicious!  This would be a great recipe to make cleanse or not.  I made almond flour pancakes with fresh blueberries for breakfast.  Very delicious and filling.

Pancakes on the left and tuna fish on the right.

For dinner I prepared pickled vegetables with an Asian turkey burger.  I served it over lettuce.  Turned out quite scrumptious!  It was really easy to make, simple flavors and seriously so good.  I am going to add this to my normal book of recipes.  Even David enjoyed it!

Asian Turkey Burgers

Throughout the day I drank a ton of water and overall wasn't hungry.  I had zero caffeine and all I drank was water.  I had one snack during the day and that was a gala apple.  Day one turned out much better than I thought!  Please feel free to ask me any questions.  If you'd like any of the recipes featured today you can email me at alicialeighalonso@gmail.com.


Signing out.

My Daily Crack

McDonalds Iced Coffee. My drug of choice: Sugar Free Vanilla Iced Coffee.

Go. Buy. A. Cup.

GTL

So my sister, Ashley, came in town last week for our Big Fat Cuban Reunion. We were laying in bed watching a Jersey Shore re-run and she looked at me and said, "Let's go to Jersey for my Bachelorette Party!" My immediate response was "OMG, get engaged right now."

How amazing would a Fist Pumping, Guidette Bachelorette Party be?!?! Even though Ashley is not engaged, I am going to start planning her bachelorette party right now since I'm the Maid of Honor. She hasn't asked me yet or anything, but I am her only sister, so its okay if I just assume the position, right? Okay, yeah, I thought so too.

So you maybe asking yourself, what do Fist Pumping Guidettes do on a Bachelorette Party? Here is the list:

1. First and foremost, nicknames. We must all have nicknames. For example, a possible nickname for me could be "A-Powww."

2. We must GTL before the trip, Gym Tan Laundry. Must be buff, must be bronze, and must be bangin in our white tee's.

3. We must go shopping at 579 or Rainbow for our attire. Think cropped shirts, short shorts and an animal print dress for the Bride (preferably zebra print). We will need big hoops, big heels, big sunglasses, french manicure fake nails, trucker hats and of course a Coach or LV Purse to complete the ensemble.

4. Must all have the poof, everyone must have a bumpits in their hair at all times, even in bed. I'm talking about the Hollywood bumpit. Nothing else will do.

Bump...bump, bump it up

5. We must master the myspace picture pose. Kissy face, chukin the deuce kinda pose people.

Dats wat I'm twalkin' bout

This is my sister, Ashley. Already a pro at the kissy face! LYLAS!

6. We must find tan, sexy, gorilla men to fistpump with at da club.

Will you marry my sister, Superman? See above pic.

7. Everyone must get Henna Tattoos on low back (or a real tattoo if they are feeling frisky).



8. The only kind of food allowed on the trip will be Italian. If you don't like Italian food get the Eff out of Jersey.

MAHHH! Gimme some Meatballs!

9. Everyone has to talk with a Jersey accent, even if it sucks.


10. Last and most importantly, everyone must fist pump all day, everyday.

Y'all Feelz Me?

Something Old, Something New

I know I've been MIA, so please accept my apology.

So I have moved back in with my grandparents. Remember them? I'm in the middle of relocating with Hertz, Sarah (my old roommate) got engaged (YAY!), so it was good timing to move back in with the ole ball and chains!

(Belita and Belo)


They just celebrated their 58th Wedding Anniversary! 58 years! Belo said, "I been with her my whole life, sisty fie chears" (65 years). So Belita made us steaks and we drank wine. I love my new roommates! So in honor of their milestone I am going to tell you some of my favorite Belita and Belo stories. I like to call them "Cuban Socialites."

1 They went to Mexico for a month long honeymoon. On this honeymoon they swam in a pool covered with flowers, had cocktails on the President of Argentina's yacht, and danced in a club where you had to take your shoes off because the tide covers the dance floor.

2 They spent four years apart while Belita was in America and Belo was still in Cuba.

3 I love their daily routine. It does not change. I hate change. Belita watches her Spanish Soap Operas on Telemundo and Belo takes two hours to get ready everyday.

4 I love when they tell me about their wedding day. And I'm even more grateful they were able to get some photos from Cuba of that day. It was the epitome of elegance and beauty. I mean they were, after all, Cuban Socialites. (side note: my scanner is in storage, so I can't upload pictures from their wedding).

This weekend we are celebrating Belo and Belita's 80th Birthdays! My entire Cuban family is coming to Baton Rouge and we are having a big dinner at Jubans. It will be a weekend full of love, family, wine and drama. I will fill everyone in on my Big Fat Cuban Reunion next week! ADIOS AMIGOS!

Te Quiero Mucho,

That Cuban Girl